TY - JOUR
T1 - Helical growth in plant organs: mechanisms and significance
JF - Development
JO - Development
SP - 3272
LP - 3282
M3 - 10.1242/dev.134064
VL - 143
IS - 18
AU - Smyth, David R.
Y1 - 2016/09/15
UR - http://dev.biologists.org/content/143/18/3272.abstract
N2 - Many plants show some form of helical growth, such as the circular searching movements of growing stems and other organs (circumnutation), tendril coiling, leaf and bud reversal (resupination), petal arrangement (contortion) and leaf blade twisting. Recent genetic findings have revealed that such helical growth may be associated with helical arrays of cortical microtubules and of overlying cellulose microfibrils. An alternative mechanism of coiling that is based on differential contraction within a bilayer has also recently been identified and underlies at least some of these growth patterns. Here, I provide an overview of the genes and cellular processes that underlie helical patterning. I also discuss the diversity of helical growth patterns in plants, highlighting their potential adaptive significance and comparing them with helical growth patterns in animals.
ER -